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Ampeleia

Alicante 2016

Sale price: $33.95 Regular price:$34.95
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Tasting notes

This wine leads with strawberry, wild rose, and floral aromatics, then shifts toward earth, graphite, and garrigue — a contrast that keeps you coming back to the glass. At 13% ABV with silky tannins and lively acidity, it drinks closer to a fine Grenache from the southern Rhone than anything typical of coastal Tuscany.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Wild StrawberryVioletEarthGarrigue
  • Style: Light-bodied biodynamic red; bright ruby; strawberry, earth, and garrigue; 13% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Alicante Nero (Grenache biotype); single vineyard Vigna della Pieve; sandy, pebbly clay soils; Colline Metallifere, Alta Maremma
  • Winemaking: Native yeast fermentation; 6 months in cement vats; unfiltered; minimal sulfur; Demeter certified biodynamic
  • Serving: Serve at 58-62F; 20 min decant optional; natural cork closure
  • Pairing: Roasted chicken, lamb chops, rabbit, mushroom pasta, Pecorino Toscano
  • Similar To: For fans of lighter Grenache, Gamay, or Cotes du Rhone who want a biodynamic Tuscan expression

Ampeleia's Alicante Nero comes from a single parcel called Vigna della Pieve, cadastral plot 148 on sheet 153, located in the lower-altitude vineyards of the estate near Roccatederighi in the Colline Metallifere hills of Alta Maremma. The soils here are sandy with pebbles and clay conglomerates — conditions that encourage the variety's natural delicacy over concentration. Vines yield around 50 hectoliters per hectare, and grapes are harvested in the first week of September.

Alicante Nero is a Tuscan biotype of Grenache, also known as Cannonau in Sardinia and Garnacha in Spain. Ampeleia replanted it at the La Pieve site starting in 2003, recovering a variety that had been largely abandoned in the region in favor of more deeply colored, more structured grapes. The wine is part of the estate's Monovarietali series, a single-vineyard, single-variety project.

Fermentation is with native yeasts. The wine ages for six months in cement vats with no filtration and minimal sulfur additions. The result sits on the lighter side of red wine — low tannin, bright acidity, and a profile that leads with red fruit and florals before finishing with earth and spice.

Ampeleia has farmed biodynamically since the 2009 vintage and holds Demeter certification. The Alicante Nero is classified as a Toscana IGT.

Works well with roasted chicken, rabbit, or pork shoulder with herbs. The earthy, garrigue-driven notes make it a natural alongside grilled lamb chops or mushroom-based pasta. Also good with aged sheep's milk cheeses like Pecorino Toscano.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Alicante Nero
Farming:, Organic and Biodynamic
Vintage:, 2016
Alcohol:, 13%
Country:, Italy
Region:, Tuscany
Appellation:, Toscana IGT
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.


Re-shipping a Package

If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.


Canceling an Order

If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.


Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.


Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

3. Please track your package using the tracking service.

4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Ampeleia

Ampeleia was founded in 2002 when Elisabetta Foradori, Thomas Widmann, and Giovanni Podini acquired a former agricultural estate near Roccatederighi in the Colline Metallifere, originally developed in the 1960s by Swiss couple Erica and Peter Max Suter. Winemaker Marco Tait, whose father was an agronomist at Foradori in Trentino, has been at the helm since the first harvest. The estate covers 120 hectares in total, with 35 hectares planted to vines spread across 54 identified parcels at three distinct altitude levels. The remaining land is maintained as woods, pasture, wheat fields, olive groves, and a vegetable garden.

Ampeleia began converting its highest vineyard block to biodynamic farming in 2009, extending the practice progressively to the entire estate. All farming has been certified organic since 2013, and the estate holds Demeter biodynamic certification. In 2014 the estate acquired five cows, which graze freely in the vineyards and provide manure for biodynamic Preparation 500. Planting density runs between 7,000 and 8,000 vines per hectare. Harvesting is done by hand and is staggered from late August through early October depending on altitude and variety.

Cellar work at Ampeleia is low-intervention across all wines. Fermentation is with native yeasts. Vessels are primarily cement tanks, with no filtration applied at bottling and very low sulfur additions. The Alicante Nero ages six months in cement, preserving the variety's natural freshness and floral lift. The estate bottles its wines with natural cork closures.

Wine region

Tuscany, Italy

Maremma is the broad coastal territory of southern Tuscany running parallel to the Tyrrhenian Sea from below Livorno south through Grosseto province. Within it, the Colline Metallifere is an inland chain of mineral-rich hills that have been mined since Etruscan times and now form a national park and UNESCO Global Geopark. The climate here is Mediterranean with mild winters and a long, dry growing season from May through October, with over 2,480 sunshine hours per year. Ampeleia's vineyards outside Roccatederighi sit across three altitude bands from roughly 200 meters up to 600 meters above sea level, generating significant diurnal temperature variation.

Maremma Toscana was promoted to DOC status in 2011 after 16 years as an IGT designation. The zone covers the entire province of Grosseto, with 8,770 hectares under vine across a range of soil types including clay, sand, limestone, and volcanic tufo. The appellation permits a wide range of varieties, which has allowed producers to plant Mediterranean grapes like Alicante Nero, Carignan, and Mourvedre alongside the more internationally familiar Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese. Morellino di Scansano DOCG, the region's only DOCG, requires at least 85% Sangiovese.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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